Ubuntu Support only deb package installation, If you have some software in rpm package you can install it in Ubuntu easily. Fedora/Redhat and Mandriva support RPM packages.

In Ubuntu you can easily install softwares from Software Centers or via PPA. If any software is not available in deb/software center/ppa and it’s only available in rpm, than you can easily convert that rpm file to deb package with one command using terminal.

This RPM to DEB Conversion Utility called Alien, Which converts packages from one to the other format. It doesn’t mean that convert rpm package will always work on your system. Cause there can be problem of Dependencies or libraries.

To install Alien open Terminal (Press Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the following command

sudo apt-get install alien dpkg-dev debhelper build-essential

Now convert package from RPM format to Deb format, use the following command. Change your packagename in command:

sudo alien packagename.rpm

To install the deb package enter following command:

sudo dpkg -i packagename.deb